In the wake of an announcement by the Justice Department that it will perform a special investigation into potential human rights issues surrounding the Eric Garner case, experts are still puzzled as to why a Grand Jury did not find probable cause of wrongdoing.
Eric Garner was
killed during an arrest by a New York City police officer on July 17,
2014. Ruled a homicide by the city
medical examiner, Garner’s death led his family to file a $75 million lawsuit
against the city and the NYPD. The
incident was captured on a cell phone video and shows Garner being put into a
chokehold by Officer Daniel Pantaleo while repeatedly saying, “I can’t
breathe.”
On the December 3,
2014 edition of his MSNBC show, Rev. Al Sharpton consulted two experts—former prosecutor
Faith Jenkins and legal analyst Kendall Coffey—about how the Grand Jury might have reached
its decision. Both expressed surprise
and confusion about the decision, given that the NYPD has banned chokeholds
since the 1990s. “In effect,” said
Coffey, “this officer knowingly used what amounted to prohibited and excessive
force.”
The purpose of the
Grand Jury, Coffey explained, was not to determine guilt or innocence, but to
look at whether or not probable cause existed, based on evidence provided by
the prosecution—in this case, evidence that likely included the cell phone
video and the ME’s report that determined homicide. The potential charges were criminally
negligent homicide, reckless endangerment, and second degree manslaughter. Each of these, according to Coffey and
Jenkins, could easily have been proven by the evidence known to the public
alone.
Jenkins also
suggested that problems may have arisen from using local rather than federal
prosecutors in the case. It’s also possible that the Grand Jury may have seen
evidence the public is not aware of, since its proceedings were held in secret.
Meanwhile, protests
regarding the Garner decision continue.
Coming on the heels of the Michael Brown trial in Ferguson,
Missouri—another situation in which a black man was killed by a white police
officer who was not charged—public outrage exists alongside attempts to
understand the legal process.
Unlike the
aftershocks of the Ferguson case, however, protests related to the Garner
decision have remained relatively nonviolent. "We want you to rally, but
rally in peace,” said Gwen Carr, Garner’s mother.
Mayor Bill de
Blasio has said that a federal investigation of Garner’s death will move
forward “expeditiously and with a clear sense of independence” from previous
investigations.
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